ARB Media Group
ARB Media Group, established in 2011, has grown from a cluster of regional broadcasters into one of Azerbaijan’s most prominent private media conglomerates. Today it operates ARB TV, a nationwide channel, alongside five regional stations – ARB Kapaz, ARB Sheki, ARB Aran, ARB North, and ARB South. It also manages two thematic outlets: ARB24, dedicated to rolling news coverage, and ARB Gunes, specialising in children’s programming. Beyond television, the group runs Kapaz FM, a regional radio station, thereby maintaining a diverse media portfolio that extends across both broadcast and radio markets.
Media assets
Television: ARB Kapaz, ARB Sheki, ARB Aran, ARB North, ARB South, ARB24, ARB Gunes
Radio: Kapaz FM
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
The group’s ownership structure remains opaque, with no publicly available shareholder information. What is known, however, points to control by private entities closely aligned with political power. Ismet Sattarov, the long-standing head of ARB, has well-documented ties to Azerbaijan’s political elite, including his work with a foundation named after former President Heydar Aliyev.
Sattarov’s appointment in 2020 as chair of the National Television and Radio Council (NTRC), the country’s state-controlled broadcast regulator, has been widely criticized as a textbook conflict of interest. In effect, he straddles the role of regulator and regulated, raising persistent concerns among journalists and observers about the independence of oversight in Azerbaijan’s media sector. Interviews with Azerbaijani journalists in exile conducted for this report in March 2024 confirmed the enduring controversy around this dual role.
Source of funding and budget
The financial underpinnings of ARB Media Group remain largely hidden from public view. No audited accounts or official budgetary figures are available. Nevertheless, journalists based abroad, interviewed for this report in March 2024, reported that ARB’s revenues are drawn primarily from advertising sales, though these are supplemented by substantial state subsidies. This hybrid model of commercial and state-backed financing further entrenches the company’s alignment with the government, allowing it to maintain a nationwide presence despite the country’s highly competitive advertising market.
There is no public data on ARB’s financial results for 2024, nor on projections for 2025–2026. Analysts monitoring the Azerbaijani media market note, however, that the group has maintained stable broadcasting operations, suggesting a continued reliance on external subsidy to offset commercial shortfalls.
Editorial independence
ARB Media Group is broadly perceived as a loyal supporter of President Ilham Aliyev and his administration. The group’s editorial line consistently echoes government priorities, with coverage described by multiple observers as uncritical, deferential, and aligned with state messaging. Independent reports, as well as interviews with Azerbaijani journalists conducted in March 2024, reinforce this picture, positioning ARB as a pillar of the country’s pro-government media landscape.
There is no statutory safeguard, nor any independent monitoring body, to verify or enforce the editorial independence of ARB Media Group. In practice, the outlets it manages operate as amplifiers of official discourse, rather than as autonomous journalistic actors.
August 2025